Would be a gift from me to fans to play another season: Dhoni

Mahendra Singh Dhoni answered the most-anticipated question of the IPL season - on his future in the tournament - but without quite answering it one way or another in the affirmative. The soon to be 42-year-old CSK captain admitted that now was the best time to walk away, but felt he could try and give his adoring fans a gift by staying on for another season.

"The easy thing for me to say is thank you and retire," Dhoni said at the presentation ceremony. "But the hard thing to do is to work hard for nine months and try to play one more IPL season. The body has to hold up. But the amount of love I have received from CSK fans, it would be a gift from me, to play one more season. The way they've shown their love and emotion, it's something I need to do for them."

"It [the season] started over here [in Ahmedabad] and the full house was chanting my name. It was my same thing in Chennai, but it will be good to come back and play whatever I can," Dhoni added.

IPL's return to venues all around the country for the first time since 2019 and the expectation that Dhoni was about to play his last sparked a nation-wide display of support for the CSK captain. Almost every ground had more supporters in yellow as Dhoni led CSK to yet another playoffs and eventually the final. The long-awaited reunion of the CSK captain and the Chepauk faithful saw adulation for him hit fever pitch in Chennai - a phenomena that even moved the otherwise poker-faced Dhoni to tear.

"You do get emotional, the first game at CSK everyone was chanting my name. My eyes were full of water, I needed to take some time off in the dugout," Dhoni revealed. "I realised I need to enjoy this. I think they love me for what I am, they love that I am so grounded, I don't try to portray something I'm not."

CSK came into the season on the back of injuries to a few key players in the bowling department. Mukesh Choudhary and Simarjeet Singh, the two bright spots of another otherwise underwhelming campaign of IPL 2022 were sidelined which meant Dhoni had to operate with more inexperience with the ball. It turned out to be a season for CSK where they batted deep and with a lot of intent as they went about making big scores and outbatting oppositions in most cases. The final too, was one such a fixture.

"There were lapses today, the bowling department didn't work, but it was the batting department that took the pressure off them today," Dhoni said.

While the swansong is still not done for Dhoni, one other CSK batter confirmed his departure on May 29 and signed off in incredible style on May 30. Ambati Rayudu, who now has six IPL titles (including the ones he won with MI), played a scintillating cameo (19 off 8 balls) where he took apart Mohit Sharma's change of pace and dragged CSK back on track in chase before Ravindra Jadeja put the finishing touches.

"The special thing about Rayudu is he will always give his 100% when he is on his field," Dhoni said. "But with him in the team, I will never win the fairplay award. I've been playing with him for a long time, since the India A tours. He's a player who can play spin and pace equally well. It is something really special. I felt he would do something really special today."

While Rayudu walks away having played 204 IPL matches across 14 seasons, Dhoni remains 250 not out...for now.